It was their first meeting since rumors surfaced that both might be interested in the same job-Lamont's-next year.

"I don't think it'll make a difference," Lamont said before the game. Would the situation come up? He smiled a little. "If it did, I wouldn't tell you."

Across the way, La Russa made it clear he'd said all he would on the matter.

Different man: "Nowadays, it's hard to quit with the money out there," Lamont said, talking about Ryne Sandberg. "That's probably what separates him from a lot of guys. Maybe he has enough money. But it surprised me, like it did everybody else."

Move: The Sox announced after the game that infielder Olmedo Saenz, batting .143, was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. No word on who gets the roster spot. It won't be Sandberg.

Wrong number: Oakland hitting coach Jim Lefebvre, in town for the first time since the Cubs fired him, feared a torrent of calls from folks wanting to talk about that, so he shut off his hotel phone. When the delayed pile of messages mentioned Sandberg and retirement, he said, he was as shocked as anyone.

At the ballpark, Cubs questions came. He responded with appropriate grace.

"This is not a day to talk about that," he said. "But there's a lot of talent on that ballclub, and I feel for them. I have to feel for them. I spent two years of my life here."

Stuff: Mark McGwire, out since April 30 with a broken heel, on his return: "Hopefully, by next homestand." That's next week. . . . Darrin Jackson, still shaken by a personal situation, was a defensive replacement in the seventh.